Chapter 4
As a child, Pit had always been afraid of the dark, which was something that Palutena still teased him about to no end. He'd long gotten over it, and had seen much scarier things as the captain of her army. But although he'd lived at the temple for as long as he could remember, seeing it uninhabited in the dark brought back a bit of that childish fear. Not now. I can't be scared now. He tightened his grip on Dark Pit's laurel crown and continued walking.
The temple gardens were vast, and it took him a while to get to the secluded corner with the bubbling stream. It was one of his favourite places in Skyworld, and he didn't mind waiting there with nothing but the comforting sounds, warm breeze, and twinkling stars to keep him company. He frowned as the minutes ticked by. What if Pittoo's not even here?
Pit turned when he heard the sound of wings beating, and saw Dark Pit come to a soft landing, keeping a glaringly obvious distance between them. The glowing green light on his wings faded, which meant that he'd exhausted his Power of Flight. It only lasted for three minutes, which was the most that Viridi could give him to use as he wished in battle, just as Palutena had done for Pit. Dark Pit said nothing, so Pit spoke first, full of relief. "I almost thought you wouldn't come!"
"I was hoping you'd forget about this."
There was a long pause as Pit looked expectantly at his twin, who simply watched the rushing waters of the stream. Okay, this is going nowhere. "Didn't you want to tell me something?"
His gaze snapped back to Pit and his voice rose sharply. "Will you never be happy without knowing about my problems? It's because of you that I'm like this in the first place!"
Pit was taken aback. "Huh? What did I do wrong?"
"Don't try to play dumb with me!" Dark Pit's yells shot through the tranquil night. "You know exactly what I am. A clone. Your flawed clone. And there was nothing I could do about it. My fate was decided from the start."
Pit was bewildered. Where's this coming from? "Pittoo, that's–"
"There's the other problem," Dark Pit interrupted with a scowl. "Did you never stop to think about what calling someone 'Pit Two' could do to their self-esteem?"
"Maybe not, but that's only because you were a total jerk at first!" No no no, that was the worst possible thing to say. He tried to backtrack. "But it's completely different now. Pittoo is your nickname. Lady Palutena and I call you that because we love you!"
"Love?" he scoffed in response. "Don't make me laugh! You know what your 'gracious goddess' had to say about me the first time we met? That I'm fundamentally wicked and destructive. And that I… that I had to be eliminated. How twisted do you have to be to call that love?"
"Palutena was wrong!" Pit yelled. Maybe loudness was the only way to get through to his twin. Sorry, Lady Palutena, but he needs to hear this. "She had no right to say that without getting to know you, and I was wrong for not doubting her back then. But believe me when I say that our feelings have changed. We love you a lot, and we just want you to be happy! Why is that so hard for you to understand?"
"Oh, really? Don't give me that crap!" He balled his hands into fists. "A murderer like me has no right to be happy."
Pit could never have seen that coming. He struggled for words. "Murderer? How? You never killed anyone!"
Dark Pit's glare burned through him. "I was made for the sole purpose of destroying you. You think I ever wanted to? But no matter how much I resisted it, everything I've ever done has hurt you somehow. And a useless idiot like you would never know when to just stay away."
"Come on, you know that's not true. We may be two sides of the same coin, but–"
"We're not even two sides of the same coin in Smash. I'm your echo, and that's it. Why do you think I refused to fight for so long? Because I knew that all anyone would say is 'clone' this and 'clone' that. But when you challenged me, I couldn't resist, not if it meant getting a chance to beat you and prove myself." Dark Pit's wings quivered. "But guess what? I broke every rule and nearly killed you. In front of everyone."
"Everyone makes mistakes," Pit assured him. "Running away doesn't help anything."
"Easy for you to say," Dark Pit spat. "You don't know what it's like to be called a waste of space!"
Pit was appalled. "What? Who said that?"
"How dense can you be? Everyone said that. There's not a single person there who appreciates me for who I am. I'll always just be your flawed clone, and now I don't even have a chance to prove myself anymore. Why would anyone want to be around someone so dangerous when there's another, perfect version of me who can do everything better than I can?"
"Pittoo…" He didn't even know where to start. Is he jealous? Or insecure? This is just like what Lucina said. She was right, after all…
Dark Pit's eyes met his. "There, you happy? I'm finally admitting it: you're better than I'll ever be." His voice was getting louder and faster. "I was always meant to be worse than you from the moment I was created. And that's still the only expectation I've ever lived up to. How does it feel to be better than me, huh? Good? It better be!"
"No, of course it doesn't! I never wanted to win, or be better than you, or any of that! I wanted you to win that fight! All I wanted was for you to feel better!"
His voice was deathly quiet again. "Just shut up about it. There's nothing anyone can do to change all that. I've made my decision. There's no reason for me to go back; what worth do I have there, anyways? And it's too dangerous for you if I stay in Skyworld. You would have died in that fight, and I don't want that to happen ever again." Pit couldn't remember the last time he felt his heart pounding so hard. What's he even saying? Dark Pit took a deep breath. "You know what? I really wish you'd never stepped in front of that stupid Mirror of Truth. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble."
"How… how could you even say that?" Pit's voice felt papery thin.
Dark Pit turned and folded his wings. "You know my problem now, so go away. And don't come looking for me. I'll be fine."
"As if I'm just going to let my brother keep thinking he's worthless!" Pit shouted. "Seriously, what's gotten into you?"
He spun around to face Pit, his irritation obvious. "For the last time, we're not brothers. We're not even related." He added, just above a whisper, "How can you even mistake my heartless bloodlust for brotherly love or some crap like that?"
Maybe Dark Pit needed a physical jolt to snap him out of it. Pit was somewhat afraid to try after the way he retaliated last time, but he grabbed his twin by the shoulders and shook him once, gently but firmly. Raw emotion seeped into his voice. "If you're worthless, why did I sacrifice myself for you?" Dark Pit didn't push back or speak. He just blinked in surprise. "Think about it. When the Chaos Kin tried to take you down with it, I burnt my wings trying to save you, remember? My biggest wish was to fly by myself, but I threw that out in a heartbeat when your life was at stake! That's how much you mean to me! Being a clone and breaking some rules– does that really make you worthless if there's someone who'd give their life for you?"
"You had no reason to save me," Dark Pit muttered, averting his eyes for a moment. He didn't step away.
He looked up again when Pit responded. "I had every reason to! You mean more to me than my wings ever could, and I'll never regret sacrificing them for you! And all that stuff you said about being heartless and dangerous? None of that is true! You've saved my life so many times. The Underworld Army, the Chaos Kin, the Rewind Spring, Hades… sure, you were created to destroy me, but you overcame that to do what you felt was right! And honestly, at first I did think you were only helping me to save yourself. But you know what changed that? When we got Lady Palutena's soul back into her body, and we finally got to see each other again, you smiled. A genuine smile. There was nothing in it for you; you were just happy to see our happiness. So how can you ever call yourself heartless?"
Pit let go of Dark Pit's shoulders to carefully place the laurel crown on his head. "Physically, we're the same person, Pittoo: I'm you. We're closer than any other people in the universe, did you ever think about that? So I think it's fair to call ourselves brothers. And that means we'll always be there for each other, and we'll always love each other for who we are, no matter what. Deal?"
Dark Pit staggered back. Pit swore there was something different about his expression. "Alright, I get it. Can you just shut up and leave me alone now?"
Come on, I thought I was getting somewhere! "Really, Pittoo? I just want to make sure that you're feeling…" His voice trailed off as Dark Pit crossed his arms and faced away. His cheeks were flushed with red and the moonlight glinted off the tears beading in his eyes. "Pittoo?"
"You… you better swear it, Pit-stain!" Dark Pit's voice was choked, and he struggled through his sentence. "That… that I'm not worthless."
"Of course I swear it! I'll swear it forever!" Pit said, eagerly. His twin bit his lip and wiped his eyes, but quickly gave up, letting his expression soften as the tears flowed freely. Pit delicately wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. "And I'd give up my wings again if I had to. They mean nothing to me compared to my little brother."
He couldn't describe the warm feeling that enveloped him when Dark Pit returned the hug, holding fistfuls of Pit's chiton and surrounding him with his feathered wings. He sobbed quietly into Pit's shoulder as Pit tenderly ruffled his fluffy black hair. "It's okay. Let it all out," he advised, sagely. He's probably been holding all of these thoughts in for his whole life.
"I-I'm sorry," Dark Pit finally said, between sobs. It sounded unnatural, but in a good way. As if they'd reached a new level of closeness.
"Sorry for what? Getting my chiton wet?" Pit teased.
"Sorry for everything."
"Didn't I already tell you? You'll always be forgiven, no matter what."
"Th-Thank you," he breathed. That night was full of surprises. First apologizing, and then saying 'thank you'? That's new.
The two angels stood together, hugging each other in the moonlight, as Dark Pit's sobs subsided and finally stopped. He pulled away gently, but immediately took Pit's hand in his own. Pit smiled fondly. "Feeling better?"
Dark Pit nodded with a small smile of his own. "One question. Why am I the little brother? We're the same age."
"Easy. 'Cause I was born first."
"Can't we at least be twins?"
"Of course. But I'm still the older one."
Dark Pit rolled his eyes. "For the record, I've never looked up to you even once."
"Hey, that's just cruel!" Pit laughed. The fact that his twin laughed along with him betrayed that it was probably a lie. "Wanna go back now? Lady Palutena's waiting for us."
He felt Dark Pit tense up beside him. "No. I can't pretend that nothing happened."
"I guess not, but you can always start over! You'll have me and Lady Palutena forever, you know… hey, are you alright with us calling you Pittoo?"
Dark Pit shrugged. "It's annoying as hell, but do what you want." Translation: he likes it. I think.
"Then I'm holding you to it, Pittoo! Let's go. I think the portal's this way." Dark Pit hesitated at first, then nodded resolutely, and they started to walk back. "Pittoo? I was just wondering, where were you going to go if this never happened?"
Dark Pit spoke slowly. "... the Underworld?"
"What? What were you even going to eat there?"
"... maybe it wasn't such a good idea."
"See? I knew you'd realize that eventually. And I know for a fact you inherited your appetite from me."
"Inherited?" Dark Pit repeated with a playful shove. "I'm sure as hell not your son."
Pit smiled. "I know. You're my little twin brother."
"Is that even a thing?"
"It is now!" The angels' words and laughs floated in the night's breeze as they walked hand in hand, determined to keep their promise of staying together forever.
Dark Pit focused as Ike swung his sword at him, close enough for him to see light glint off Ragnell's very heavy, very threatening golden blade. But that's not the point. I've just got to play it safe for a bit…
He put up his shield and was relieved as the blade harmlessly struck the force field. He brought it back down and attacked with a few slashes of his own. Neither fighter would yield, and the cheers from the spectators mixed with the clashing of their swords.
Dark Pit kept his distance and fired some arrows. We're both vulnerable right now. It's just a question of who can get a hit on the other first. Ike knew it too, and he threw Ragnell straight upwards with a yell of "Aether!" Dark Pit swiftly got out of the way as Ike landed. Here's my chance. As Ike got to his feet, Dark Pit dealt the final two powerful slashes, and Ike was thrown out of the battlefield for a knockout. That made the game Dark Pit's win. He thrust the Silver Bow into the ground triumphantly. "Nice try."
He relished the cheers from the other fighters as he helped Ike up. It was only a few weeks ago that he'd tarnished his reputation in that fight, but he was glad Pit convinced him to try again. After a couple of battles– some victories, some losses, but all successful– against anyone who was willing to give him a chance, Dark Pit had gradually proven himself as more than an echo. And here he was, promoted to the quarter-finals in their first-ever official tournament.
Ike clapped with a nod of approval. "Your skills are remarkable."
"Thanks," he tossed back, glancing at the tournament outline.
R.O.B. helpfully adjusted the table to show the next matches as Robin read them out loud, gesturing to each fighter with his sword. "The quarter finals will have Pikachu against Mega Man, Lucario against Samus, Link against Marth, and Sheik against Dark Pit, in that order. Let the battles begin!"
Dark Pit still had some time until his match, so he figured he'd watch from the stands for now. Palutena was the first to greet him. "Great job, Pittoo!" she cheered, clapping excitedly. "Too bad we weren't able to qualify with you. Sheik's nimbleness makes her a tough opponent. Watch out for her projectile attacks as well."
He didn't have to ask what Pit thought of his bout against Link. "I was so close to beating Link that time!" Pit moaned.
Dark Pit didn't try to hold back his smile. "You don't have to be all doom and gloom all the time, you know?"
Pit's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait a sec, that's my line! And… you're actually smiling in public?"
"Don't make such a big deal out of it. It's just something I picked up from my brother," he explained. He resisted the impulse to push away when Pit hugged him, and when Palutena joined them, he made an attempt at hugging them back. He was still unfamiliar with it, but it felt nice, so he had to be doing something right. We'll always love each other for who we are, no matter what. That's what we promised. And I'll make sure it stays that way forever.